Photo: Jack Murray
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Game Time: 6:00 pm PDT
Location: Centennial Regional Arena, Brooks, AB
Radio: Bounce 800 AM
Webcast: Flo Hockey
Season Series
September 21, Penticton Vees at Brooks Bandits
November 2, Brooks Bandits at Penticton Vees
January 24, Penticton Vees at Brooks Bandits
February 1, Brooks Bandits at Penticton Vees
Penticton Vees
GM & Head Coach: Fred Harbinson
2024-25 Record: GP 2 2-0-0-0, 4 PTS
Last Game: 6-3 win at Sherwood Park, September 21
Home: 0-0-0-0
Away: 2-0-0-0
GF: 9
GA: 5
Power Play: 1 / 4 (25.00%, 10th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 3 / 6 (50%, 16th in BCHL)
Scoring Leader: Landon Wright (3-1-4)
The Vees opened the 2024-25 season with a pair of wins last weekend on their inaugural trip to Central Alberta. They picked up a 3-2 victory Friday in Spruce Grove, thanks to a late goal from Landon Wright with just 1:40 to play, before dispatching the Sherwood Park Crusaders by a 6-3 score on Saturday.
Wright collected a pair of goals and an assist in the victory Saturday while Ryden Evers also notched three points. Will Ingemann picked up both wins on opening weekend, going wire to wire between the pipes for Penticton.
It was a quick week of rest for the Vees, as they head back to Alberta on another road trip beginning tonight in Brooks. The Bandits host Penticton at Centennial Regional Arena as a budding rivalry awaits. Tonight’s game is one many have circled on the BCHL calendar, as these two junior hockey heavy weights go toe-to-toe for the first time ever in a BCHL regular season setting. The Vees and Bandits have played exhibition series over the last six years, but nothing that counts since the 2017 Western Canada Cup, which was posted in Penticton.
Will Ingemann makes his third consecutive  start for Penticton, as he and the Vees look to remain perfect to begin the new season. Defenceman Michael Fisher is serving a one-game suspension tonight, after his five-minute kneeing major last Saturday in Sherwood Park. Penticton will dress 13 forwards and six defencemen. Forward Jackson Potulny will slot back in tonight.
Brooks Bandits
Head Coach & GM: Ryan Papaioannou
2024-25: GP 2 2-0-0-0, 4 PTS
Last Game: 5-1 win vs Okotoks, September 21
Home: 1-0-0-0
Away: 1-0-0-0
GF: 10
GA: 1
Power Play: 4/8 (50.00%, 3rd in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 8/8 (100.00%, 1st in BCHL)
Scoring Leader: Parker Lalonde (3-3-6)
The Bandits opened up the 2024-25 BCHL season last weekend with a clean sweep of the Okotoks Oilers in a home and home series. Brooks blanked Okotoks by a 5-0 count on the road on Friday before handing the Oilers a 5-1 defeat at Centennial Regional Arena to close out the weekend on Saturday night.
Parker Lalonde led the way for Brooks, collecting three goals and six points in two games. The 20-year-old forward, committed to Merrimack in the NCAA, notched three assists on opening night before posting a hat-trick in the Bandits’ home opener on Saturday night. He was named the BCHL’s First Star of the Week.
Former Merritt Centennials goaltender Jonny Hicks, now in his second season in Brooks, collected both wins for the Bandits on opening weekend, stopping 43 of 44 shots he faced including posting a shutout in Okotoks on Friday.
Brooks has 12 players back from last season that won the Alberta Division title and the Rocky Mountain Challenge against the Surrey Eagles. They also have 19 players committed to NCAA Division l schools. They were a powerhouse in the AJHL and look to carry over that success as a newly minted member of the BCHL.
